Focus Area: Youth Development

Grant Amount: $10,000

Located in Brooklyn Center. Founded in 2019, Relentless Academy provides affordable and accessible S.M.A.R.T. (Science, Math, Art, Reading, Technology) programming that includes music and financial literacy instruction for underserved youth. This Black-led organization collaborates with partners, many of whom are Black-owned organizations in the community, to provide various experiences to engage students. Their mission is to close the academic achievement and wealth gap among families in underserved communities.

Grant supports the SMART summer program, which launched in 2021 with 25 kids in grades 1-8 and this year will serve 80 students with a waitlist. The program runs five days a week, 8 am to 5 pm, for 8 weeks from mid-June to early August, and takes place at Brookdale Covenant Church. This summer program is designed to curb the learning loss that happens over the summer break. To make this high-quality academic program accessible to families in communities where poverty is a challenge, tuition is free, and only a one-time registration fee is required at the beginning.